From the garden into the jar
Zacuscă is the smoky roasted-vegetable spread Romanian households put up every autumn. You pick the aubergines and peppers off the plant in the morning, the cauldron goes on the fire at noon, and in the evening you leave with your own jars.
60 lei a head. Jars 2 lei each, vegetables at production price.
By appointment onlyFour days, that is all. Tell us which one suits and we will say whether there is still room at the cauldron.
- 12 km from Timișoara
- 19–20 and 26–27 September
- Cooked in the cauldron, over a wood fire
- You leave with your own jars
Four days, four cauldrons
Each day is a workshop of its own, with its own cauldron. Choose one and write to us.
- Saturday19September 2026I'll come this day
- Sunday20September 2026I'll come this day
- Saturday26September 2026I'll come this day
- Sunday27September 2026I'll come this day
No fixed hours. We start in the morning and finish when the jars are full.
A day at the cauldron
Morning
You walk the rows with a crate and choose the aubergines, capia and gogoșari straight off the plant.
Around noon
The fire is lit. Peppers and aubergines roast on the iron disc, and you can smell it from the gate.
Afternoon
Everything is chopped, tipped into the cauldron, and stirred in turns. This is where zacuscă is made, not in a kitchen.
Evening
The jars are filled and shared out in equal parts. You leave with yours, and with hands that know how it is done.
What the 60 lei covers
- The snackincludedA cold platter of farm produce, halfway through the day.
- FirewoodincludedThe fire burns under the cauldron all day.
- Disc and grillincludedThe iron disc the aubergines and peppers roast on.
- Power for the chopperincludedThe vegetable chopper, put to work.
- The rest of the farmincludedIt is the same field as the picking, so everything there is yours: parking, shade, toilet, drinking water, the animals for the children and the pond.
Stay for the meal
On workshop days everything happens out on the field, so you can stay for the meal at the cauldron, the same as on any picking day. It is agreed in advance, when you book.
Raul's recipe
Aubergines, capia peppers and gogoșari, picked that same morning. Plus onion and carrot from the farm.
Auberginesroasted on the disc until they give
Capia peppersthe sweetness and the colour
Gogoșarthe thick flesh
It comes out sweet, not hot. Hot peppers grow two steps away, but they never go in the cauldron.
Zacuscă on a stove and zacuscă in a cauldron are two different things. You taste it in the first spoonful.
— Raul
We grow the vegetables in permaculture. They ripen in the garden and are picked the day they go into the cauldron.
No herbicides, no pesticides.
Up to seven jars
There is one cauldron, so one batch is made and shared out in equal parts. How far it goes depends on how many of us there are and how much work gets done, but it is usually up to seven 800-gram jars a head.
What people ask us
- Do I need to bring jars?
- No, there are jars here. If you bring your own, bring them washed and with lids that seal properly, or the zacuscă will not keep through the winter.
- Does it come out hot?
- No, it comes out sweet. It is fine for children.
- How long does a day last?
- It depends how many of us there are and how long the peppers take on the disc. We start in the morning, eat halfway through, and agree your arrival time when you book.
- Can I bring the children?
- Yes. There are animals, room to run, and plenty for them to do at the cauldron.
- What should I bring?
- Clothes you can work in and shoes you do not mind getting dusty. Everything else is here.
- Can I take vegetables home as well as zacuscă?
- Yes, you are out in the field anyway. Take a crate, pick what you like, and that is settled separately from the zacuscă when you leave.
- How do I know I have a place?
- Write on WhatsApp or call. The place is yours once Raul answers, not before.
Pick your day and write to us
Tell us which day you want and how many of you there are. We will reply with what is still free.
It runs on the field, the same place as the picking. Not the eatery, the field is somewhere else.